Class Information

This is a syllabus for a class provided by EVE University. This section contains information about this class and its contents. General Information includes materials to create a proper class listing on the EVE University forum. Additional resources and teaching tips are listed under Notes for the Teacher.

Class Contents

Introduction

Welcome to Invention 101. Invention is the process in EVE that produces Tech II blueprint copies, from which one can manufacture advanced technology items and ships. Tech II items command higher prices in the market and can be a very lucrative way for players to earn ISK. However, for those that are not well prepared, trying to perform invention can be a costly nightmare.

This course is designed primarily for players that are thinking about getting into manufacturing of advanced technology items - and in so doing, benefit from the higher prices of Tech II items in the market.

Over the next hour, I will explain how the invention process came about in EVE, what kind of skills and equipment you need to perform invention, how the process actually works, and some methods for maximizing the success of your invention efforts.

(Instructor should then introduce himself or herself - covering relevant experience level and background.)

We have a few ground rules for this class:

Please configure your Mumble settings for "Push to Talk" if you have not already done so.

Feel free to type any questions in the Class.E-UNI chat channel as we proceed - I will try to answer your questions as they come during the class. [At the end of my lecture, we'll open Mumble for any further questions or general discussion.]

There are no practical exercises in this class. However, I recommend that you be docked up and somewhere safe during this lecture.

Everyone ready? OK, then - let's begin....

What is invention?

Invention is the means by which you produce blueprint copies for Tech II items and ships in EVE, which can then be sold on the market, or (more popularly) be used to manufacture those items for sale or personal use in the game.

A little history about Tech II production....

Once upon a time, CCP decided that Tech II items and ships would be a cool thing to offer to EVE players.

This, however, presented a problem. To maintain play balance, Tech II items had to be more expensive and harder to get than Tech I items, since they represent a significant improvement in performance. They couldn't simply seed Tech II blueprints in stations, as Tech I BPOs are provided, or else no one would ever make Tech I items anymore. And so, in their infinite wisdom, CCP created the Tech II BPO lottery, where a limited number of Tech II blueprint originals were awarded to players, based on the number of research datacores they owned. This happened with the Castor expansion in 2003.

This solution, naturally, presented some new problems. The production of Tech II items was reserved to a relatively small number of experienced EVE players who were lucky enough to get one of the BPOs. This allowed them to control the prices completely, making T2 items dreadfully expensive. Also, there were rumors abound that CCP was rigging the lottery to favor certain players or corporations, making it unfair.

So, in their now smarter infinite wisdom, CCP developed the invention process with the Revalations expansion in 2006, which allows any EVE player to produce Tech II blueprint copies, after a significant investment in skills, materials, and equipment. The invention process produces limited-run Tech II blueprint copies, but with a chance of failure, thus making Tech II item production more difficult, but still attractive enough to warrant investment by players. Since BPCs produce limited runs of items, unlike BPOs, the invention process also keeps Tech II item production at a much more intensive but more limited level than Tech I production.

Tech II BPOs still exist in EVE, and are highly prized and hideously expensive. Their owners have gotten very rich in the game, and they guard their use very diligently. Many have speculated that Tech II BPOs may one day be discontinued - if this ever happens, then the invention process will be the sole source of advanced tech items in the game.

A player using the invention process takes a blueprint copy for a lower tech item, adds certain specialized equipment, and attempts to create a blueprint copy for a higher tech item. Although it sounds simple, invention can be very expensive and difficult to do successfully.

Let's look at a Tech I item blueprint original and copy to get familiar with some useful information about invention.

Click on the link in chat for the "1MN Afterburner I Blueprint"

On a Blueprint original, you'll see a summary of how efficiently you can produce items from this blueprint - it shows the required skills, Materials and times for manufacturing. You can also see clickable buttons for the various types of research and the invention button is not available. It's important to know that blueprint efficiency is completely irrelevant to the invention process, what is relevant is that you will need a blueprint copy for the invention process.

Now click on the blueprint copy, as a tech 1 blueprint copy you will see similar information to the blueprint original, however, the efficiency research buttons are now unavailable and the invention button is. Click on the "Invention" tab. Here you'll see the required skills and materials required to conduct invention for this item.

Required skills for invention

You need to train several different types of skills in order to perform the invention process:

Basic skills - to give you access to encryption and advanced science skills

Encryption Method skills - there are one for each of the four races (Amarr, Gallente, Caldari, Minmatar), and every Tech II item requires a specific one

Advanced Science skills - each Tech II item requires at least two of these

The basic skills needed for invention are:

CPU Management II

Power Grid Management II

Electronics Upgrades III

Science V

Hacking II

There are four racial encryption methods skills:

Amarr Encryption Methods

Caldari Encryption Methods

Gallente Encryption Methods

Minmatar Encryption Methods

Each T2 item is associated with one of these encryption methods.

Each item also has two advanced science skills associated with it. The advanced science skills are:

An inventor must have the basic skills, the proper encryption method skill, and the two science skills trained, as required for each item, in order to start an Invention job. Higher skill levels of the encryption methods and science skills lead to a better chance of invention. The basic skills do not alter your success chances.

In order to see which skills are required, look in the Invention tab in a blueprint for any Tech I item.

For example, 1MN Afterburner invention requires:

Minmatar Encryption Methods 1

Molecular Engineering 1

Science 5

Mechanic 5

Rocket Science 1

Science 5

Electronics 5

You should train encryption skills to at least level 3, and advanced science skills at least to level 4, to have a good chance of invention success.

Equipment for invention

If you look on the BPC invention tab, . you will see the required types and number of datacores required for the invention process, it does not include the optional items.

I would recommend clicking on the 'view in industry' button at the bottom of the BPC, click on the invention button in the industry window.

Mandatory Items:

Blueprint copy (mandatory item)

You must have a T1 blueprint copy (BPC) of the T2 item you wish to create. If the Invention job is successful, this BPC will be changed from T1 to T2. If the job is unsuccessful, the BPC will be destroyed, if the BPC has multiple runs, you will retain the blueprint, minus 1 run.

The Material Efficiency and Production Efficiency of the BPC does not matter for an Invention job. Neither does the number of runs, if the invention process is successful the number of runs of the T2 BPC depends on the type of item and if you use an optional decryptor

Datacores (mandatory items)

Each invention job will require two types of datacores. The number of datacores needed depends on the size of the object created. Small modules only require one datacore of each type while battleships require 32 of each type.

To learn how to acquire datacores, please attend the Datacore Farming 101 class.

Decryptors are an optional item that can be added to the invention process. Decryptors affect the invention chance of the process as well as the material efficiency, production efficiency, and number of runs of the created T2 bpc. Decryptors will be consumed during the Invention process, successful or not.

When using no decryptor the base values for a T2 BPC are the following: Runs: 1 (ships) 10 Mods, ME: -4, PE: -4. Add the values from the decryptor to the base values to calculate the final outcome of the T2 BPC.

The invention process

Check the Invention tab on your Tech I blueprint for all the required skills and materials.

Acquire a blueprint copy (BPC) for your Tech I item

Train the skills to the recommended levels.

Buy (or manufacture) the required items: BPC, datacores.

If you wish, use a decryptor to boost your chance of success or increase the number of runs with the BPC T2.

Transport all required items to a station (or POS) that has research labs.

Note that the UNI research POS does not provide support for invention jobs as game mechanics do not allow corp inventions to be installed at an alliance PoS. (This may change with Citadels)

Select your Tech I BPC, view in industry and select the invention button.

Complete the invention research job dialogue box:

Installation: select the research lab that will conduct the invention job.

Blueprint: select the Tech I BPC for this invention job.

Input/Output: show the location(s) for all required items needed for the job, and where you would like the Tech II BPC to be deposited, if successful.

Decryptor: if you include a decryptor, select it here.

Output Type: if you can produce one of several types of Tech II BPCs from this invention job, select the desired output here. For example, conducting research on a Gallente Atron frigate can produce either an Ares or Taranis interceptor, depending on what you select.

Start the job and wait for the outcome. You can monitor the status of your invention jobs by clicking the Business - Industry button on your NeoCom, and select the 'Jobs' tab. If you click on your job listing, the dialog will show useful things, including how long the job has to complete. This updates in real time, so you can leave the dialog up if you want a second-by-second countdown timer. Wait times for invention jobs range from about an hour for simple modules, up to several days for large ships.

When you select a completed job there will be a Deliver button at the bottom of the dialog. Click that to have the product of your job delivered to you.

When delivered, you'll get either a "You were successful!" or a "You failed." message.

Items are consumed by the invention process, whether successful or not.

Frigates, Destroyers, Freighters and Skiff have a base probability of 30%

Cruisers, Industrials and Mackinaw have a base probability of 25%

Battlecruisers, Battleships and Hulk have a base probability of 20%

In summary, it's not difficult to get a good chance of success for modules, but progressively more difficult for ships as their size increases. This is why investing in some decryptors is a good idea for Tech II ship invention jobs.

You can experiment with the chance calculator with different skill levels and items to see how the probability changes. Use this to determine the levels of skills you wish to train, and whether you want to invest in decryptors.

Note that the following factors have no impact on the probability of invention success:

Material Level of the input BPC

Productivity Level of the input BPC

Licensed runs of the input BPC

How attractive, charming or brilliant you are :-)

A few helpful guidelines:

Encryption skill affects the chance of success moderately - training up to level 3 is useful - beyond that, it produces only very slight improvement

Science skills affect success most significantly - train up to at least level 4, and eventually to level 5 if you are going to be producing significant amounts of certain items

Higher meta-level Tech I items can also affect success significantly - while optional, use meta 3 or 4 items (when affordable) if you can. You can place buy orders in the market to get some of these at very low prices from mission-runners who want to dump their loot.

Decryptors can virtually guarantee success, but can also be very expensive - in general, use these only for big items like Tech II ships.

To maximize profits from invention, you need to minimize your investment costs. This means using buy orders to purchase invention items in the market: datacores and decryptors. You'll also want to shop around to different stations to find the most affordable blueprint copying and invention research labs - they all charge fees for their services, and some more than others depending how busy the system is with industry and science.

As you gain more experience in invention, you can experiment with different investments in your mix of skills and decryptors. Many inventors tire quickly of depending on public resources for blueprint copying, which are always in short supply. If you are going to be a serious producer of Tech II items, you will eventually want to establish a research POS, so that you always have lab slots available for copying and invention jobs. But that is the subject of another entire class....

Class Wrap-up

Thanks for attending!

I would appreciate any feedback from people on how to improve the class, positive or negative - send me an EVE mail with your ideas or critique.

Good luck, and may you become rich and powerful as a Tech II inventor!